


A Long Night

by fizzygingr



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 14:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3980740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fizzygingr/pseuds/fizzygingr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the bunks, she can hear Kaylee crying. It’s not Zoe’s soft and dignified weeping; it’s the ugly sort of sobbing reserved for when you think you’re about to burst with the pain of it all; it’s gasping and wailing and screaming “No, no, no” until you don’t even know what you’re saying anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Long Night

The first night, Mal sends them all to bed. They’ll bury him proper tomorrow, he says, and once they’ve got Serenity flying again they’ll have a good old-fashioned wake: tell stories and sing and get drunk off their asses. But first they’ve got to get the ship fixed up, and fast. And that means they’ve got to be well-rested. Inara accuses Mal of being callous, but Zoe interrupts to say he’s right, they need the rest. So Jayne lays the body down in the cargo bay, and takes off his jacket to cover the hole in his chest (because Kaylee don’t need to see that), and Zoe slams the door to the bridge shut (but there’s blood on her shoes, and it’s going to leave footprints all over the ship that will take weeks to scrub off), and they head off to their bunks.

Some of them manage to get in a few hours’ sleep. Mal’s head is buzzing with the events of last few days, but his body is heavy with exhaustion; he falls onto bed fully clothed, without bothering to clean the blood and dirt off his face. Jayne pours himself a drink before climbing into bed; he’s earned it after the hell they’ve been through. There are splinters in his hands from pulling the reaver spear out of Wash’s chest. Simon, weak and loaded up with painkillers, falls into a heavy sleep; he can’t do anything but. 

River sleeps soundly by his side; she can’t remember the last time her head was this quiet. She slept fitfully before tonight, and would often wake up screaming, throwing her body onto the floor. On the nights when she couldn’t go back to sleep, she would wander the ship, pressing her hands to the walls and feeling Serenity’s children asleep in her belly. Sometimes she would find herself on the bridge. Wash would be there, and they would sit silently, side by side, and look out at the stars. She liked Wash. He was good. He was good and now he’s gone but she’s not going to think about that now. She’s going to rest, because there’s peace in deep places in her that had forgotten what peace felt like.

Inara tries to meditate before going to sleep in her old shuttle, but it isn’t long before she hears footsteps in the cargo bay. She opens the door; in the darkness she can make out Zoe’s form, bent over her husband’s body and gently shaking. She steps outside. 

Zoe looks up. “I’m sorry to wake you, Inara,” she says softly. 

“You didn’t. I just ran out of tea, so I’m going to make some in the kitchen.”

She walks into the kitchen, puts the kettle on, and sits down, heavy with the day. From the bunks, she can hear Kaylee crying. It’s not Zoe’s soft and dignified weeping; it’s the ugly sort of sobbing reserved for when you think you’re about to burst with the pain of it all; it’s gasping and wailing and screaming “No, no, no” until you don’t even know what you’re saying anymore. 

Gently, Inara knocks on Kaylee’s door and opens the hatch.

“Mei-mei? Why don’t you come up here, sweetie?”

Kaylee takes a few deep, rattling breaths. When she manages to speak, her words are small and thick with tears. “Zoe said we should try to sleep.”

“Well, Zoe ain’t sleeping much either.”

Inara turns around to find Zoe behind her, tears on her cheeks and a heavy smile on her lips. “Kaylee, come on up.”

The three women sit silently on the sofa, Kaylee sobbing into Inara’s lap while Inara strokes her hair. Zoe and Inara lean their heads into one another, and Kaylee clings tightly to Zoe’s hands. The kettle whistles, forgotten, on the stove.

As the sun rises, Mal walks into the kitchen and finds the three of them asleep. For a moment, he considers waking them; after all, there’s a lot of work to be done if they want to get off this rock before someone catches up to them. But it’s been a long night, and he ain’t that cruel. 

He turns off the stove and starts working.


End file.
